All Hallows College to close

Wind down due to lack of funding and falling numbers.

One of the country’s oldest Catholic third-level colleges is to close due a severe lack of funding and falling student numbers.

All Hallows College in Dublin will now wind down its operations over a number of years.

The shock announcement comes following a blaze of publicity in recent weeks involving the cash-strapped college surrounding letters written by the late Jackie Kennedy to an Irish priest.

The letters, hidden in a safe for the last 50 years, began in 1950 and continued until the death in 1964 of Fr Joseph Leonard, a Vincentian cleric based at All Hallows.

A statement is expected from the College on the matter this afternoon.

All Hallows College is now a college of Dublin City University, however, its origins date back to 1842, when John Hand founded a college to train priests for the foreign missions.

The college specialises at undergraduate level in the teaching of theology, philosophy, psychology, and English literature as well as programmes in personal and professional development. All degrees from All Hallows are validated and accredited by DCU.